


Touch

by TaangyChocolate



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: After the Agni Kai, F/F, Fluff, Touch-Starved, injuries, self hate, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-08-04 13:47:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16347860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaangyChocolate/pseuds/TaangyChocolate
Summary: Azula's hands are cracked and numb after the Agni Kai and then her imprisonment. Toph teaches her how to touch again -- and this time, how to touch properly.





	Touch

Azula closed her eyes as a warm pair of lips peppered kisses onto her hairline. The kisses dotted her temples and a feeble sound threatened to escape her throat; she bit down on the inside of her cheek, tasting blood. The pain calmed her in the face of such uncharacteristic softness. She didn’t deserve this. 

She deserved the burns and sores on her fingers but not the soft lips that kissed them better. She deserved the horribly uneven, knotted mess of hair but not the calloused hands that carefully ran through them. She deserved the soul-sucking darkness of her cell but not the blind eyes that brought her so much light. 

Toph’s hands were warm as they cupped her cheeks. The pads of her fingers were rough as they slid along the curl of her lips and the fallen princess sighed at the feeling. She refused to open her eyes, even as the younger girl leaned in until their noses brushed. 

The earthbender breathed in, hesitated for only half a heartbeat, then kissed her. Azula allowed herself to hug the shorter bender against her chest; a sigh escaped her -- or was it Toph? It was hard to tell when their mouths were joined so soundly -- and both sunk into their not-quite hug. As Toph’s mouth moved against her own, the princess felt light, happy, _free._

The wonderful taste of Toph turned to ash in her mouth and an acute sense of shame came over her at the feeling. She sadly hummed into the embrace as something heavy settled in her stomach. While the metal cuffs were no longer holding her down their weight still clung to her wrists. This rehabilitation wasn’t working. She had done nothing of worth yet; well, nothing besides gaining the love of an annoyingly stubborn earthbender. 

Azula let her eyes flutter open as they continued to kiss. She hadn’t done anything to deserve this happiness. _Toph_ had bent the chains away. _Toph_ had whipped her insides up into a frenzy with her kisses. _Toph_ had given her the chance to feel like a person and not a patient. _Toph_ was the one putting in effort for her to get better. Zuko may believe that she deserved to feel happy, but she didn’t deserve to feel free. 

As if sensing her thoughts the earthbender pulled away, her hands still framing her girlfriend’s too-thin face. Her brows were furrowed and her foggy eyes seemed to shine in the dimness. Azula watched her blankly, unable to suppress the shivers as dusty fingertips trailed down to her wrists. 

Toph intertwined their fingers and brought their hands up, pressing kisses on all five knuckles of her left hand. “Look at me.” Her voice was muted and another shiver slid though the princess. Azula watched, transfixed, as her lover’s kisses marched from her knuckles to the inside of her wrist. Pale fingertips settled at the base of her palm, “Open.”

Azula did as the girl commanded. Toph’s hands enveloped her own, uncaring of the scars and still-healing burns on her skin. Slow and steady, they moved until the princess’ hands were cupping the tomboy’s cheeks, her thumbs stumbling as she tried to replicate Toph’s earlier movements. 

The earthbender let out a little snicker, her tone light and encouraging, “Now look at me, Lightning Bug.” 

Azula opened her eyes, confused at the instruction. Instead of speaking, she observed her girlfriend, quietly waiting for something, anything. A half minute passed and Toph’s brows raised. The princess tilted her head at that; she had never noticed that Toph couldn’t raise one brow independently. It made her look even more mocking than usual. It suited her. 

Another half minute of silence. Azula’s brows furrowed and she cleared her throat, watching the pretty curl of Toph’s lips as she snorted, “Look at me _like me_ , Zula.” 

_Oh_. Nodding confidently, her fingers pressed into Toph’s skin. Her thumbs fanned out, rubbing the curve of cheekbones right below those magnificent blind eyes. For all of three seconds she was finally in control, feeling the contours of her lover’s face, until she tried to move the rest of her fingers. 

A surge of panic rippled through her chest when she realized that she didn’t know what to do. Azula angrily shoved it down; she was once a prodigy, never demure nor weak. She could do this. Still, her movements were awkward and unsure, her fingertips going from too rough, almost enough to bruise, to too soft, not even touching the bender’s skin. Azula gnawed at her cheek, her nails nearly scratching the pale skin underneath them. 

Toph’s face was getting closer and she pecked her lips. Her hands enclosed the firebender’s again, “Let’s try again. Slower this time.” Languidly, their hands moved together, trailing down Toph’s jaw until their fingertips hit her chin. 

Azula felt something unidentifiable bubble in her throat, breathless as they trailed their fingertips over the Earth noble’s features. She swallowed thickly and shakingly shut her eyes as she looked at her earthbender. She already knew that Toph was pretty, but she didn’t realize the full extent until now.

Under her fingers Toph’s features were delicate, handsome: the smooth curve of her nose, the slight pudge of her cheeks, the triangular part in the center of her hairline, the way her left eye was ever-so-slightly lower on her face than its twin, the heart-shaped line of her jaw, the thin lines of her lips. 

The ends of those lips curled up, exposing her teeth and Azula smiled with her. Leaning down, the brunette pressed their foreheads together, not once stopping her hands’ exploration. Toph let out a hum, raising her face to give her girlfriend another kiss, “Not that horrible, huh?”

The princess snickered into the kiss, unable to resist the urge to smile at the fluttering in her chest, “You look pretty good, actually.”


End file.
